Santorum made $239K from Fox

Rick Santorum had harsh words for Fox News’s coverage of the presidential race last week, but he was raking in almost a quarter-million dollars from the network as recently as this spring.

News Corp., the station’s parent company, paid Santorum $239,000 to contribute to Fox News in 2010 and the first half of 2011, according his personal financial disclosure report out Thursday. By contrast, Sarah Palin reportedly has a $1-million contract with Fox.

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The former Pennsylvania senator made almost $350,000 in the political punditry business during that time, thanks to his other previous gigs as a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist and fill-in host for Bill Bennett’s conservative radio show.

Fox News suspended Santorum’s contributor contract in March as he moved closer to a full-fledged White House campaign, and at the time Santorum had nothing but kind words for the network. But in a conversation with POLITICO last week, he criticized Fox for focusing too much on Rick Perry. “Fox News is a dog following the squirrel,” he said.

Santorum’s campaign did not immediately comment on the financial disclosures.

Santorum’s financial disclosure also shows he made $217,000 as a senior fellow at the Washington-based Ethics and Public Policy Center, and more than $330,000 consulting to Pennsylvania-based Consol Energy Inc., and the D.C.-based lobbying shops Clapham Group and American Continental Group. His former chief of staff and longtime friend Mark Rodgers is principal at Clapham Group.

Not counting investments, Santorum reported over $900,000 in income in 2010 and early 2011.

Counting investments and income from rental properties near Pennsylvania State University, his alma mater, Santorum reported over $1 million in income in 2010 and early 2011.

He has assets ranging between $880,000 and $1.9 million, according to the report.